1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to rheometers, and more particularly to a computer controlled rheometer that provides analysis of the viscosity and elasticity of a product to permit optimum control of the manufacture or utilization of the product.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Rheometers, including rheometers that employ a restriction, such as a slit or a capillary are known. Such prior art rheometers fall into two general categories. The first category includes laboratory type rheometers wherein a small sample of a fluid to be analyzed is manually applied to the rheometer and the properties of the fluid are determined from manual calculations based on manually read pressure readings. The second category includes industrial type rheometers which generally measure only a single parameter of the fluid, such as viscosity, and are not particularly accurate. Typical prior art rheometers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,834,200; 3,138,950; 3,841,147 and 4,027,526.